


What Was Put Between Us

by Windona



Category: Batman Beyond
Genre: Gen, Reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2020-02-26 01:56:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18714163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Windona/pseuds/Windona
Summary: Bruce Wayne might not want to tell Terry about what Cadmus did, but Mary McGinnis has a right to know.





	What Was Put Between Us

Mary McGinnis looked at the file in front of her. It had her ex-husband's name on the tab, and a 'CLASSIFIED’ stamp on it.

“Are you sure it's okay for me to look at this, Mr. Wayne?”

“Well, I think it is and seeing as I own Wayne Powers now…” Mr. Wayne's gentle genial nature gave way to concern. “Now, Mary, I found out about this only recently. I did a bit of research to find everything, and was as much a shock to me as it will be to you.”

Mary nodded, Mr. Wayne's words only increasing her apprehension along with Terry’s absence. She opened the file to see a record of a vaccine being given to Warren, but no vaccine consumed from inventory. 

She flipped to the next sheet of paper. There was an analysis of Warren's DNA, as a sample was required to be on file for anyone working in the same wing as the genetics lab for safety and medical reasons. There was an analysis of Terry's DNA as well, and it reaffirmed what the paternity test over a decade ago said.

She looked up at Mr. Wayne, about to protest the invasion of privacy when he pointed at a third DNA analysis.

While the science was beyond her, the result was not. This third person was the source of Terry's paternal DNA. She looked up at Mr. Wayne.

“There are those who thought that without someone to pass my legacy to, my hard work to improve Gotham would go to waste. I had no idea they would go to such extreme methods.”

Mary looked up at Mr. Wayne, and looked at his blue eyes. Aged, but an all too familiar blue. She glanced at a family photo and saw how her sons echoed Mr. Wayne's looks.

“Is this why you offered to hire Terry?” Her voice was distant even to her own ears.  

“No, I suspected something months after hiring him. I did the research to dispel my suspicions.” Mr. Wayne thoughtfully paused. “I did not inform Terry. Warren McGinnis was his father, and I do not wish to take that from him.”

“I see.” Terry and Matt could be spared that.

But they weren't spared the divorce.

As if sensing something, Mr. Wayne stood up. “I will take my leave, allow you to process in peace. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.” 

“Of course.” Mary couldn't even remember her manners to see him to the door.

Arguments, accusations, Warren begging her to come clean about who her lover was, all of that came back to her and swirled in her mind.

All because some fan of Mr. Wayne thought the man needed an heir and didn't care what it took to create one.

She flipped through the papers in the file once more, coming across something she hasn't seen earlier. 'Project: [     ] Beyond’ had another, more sinister aspect beyond illegal nonconsensual DNA alteration.

She and her ex husband had almost been assassinated to make Terry more like his employer and sperm donor. Only the assassin having a crisis of conscious saved them.

Mary ran to the sink and threw up. She rubbed her arms as if it could rid her of the puppet strings that had almost been wrapped around her entire family. She stood over the sink for what felt like eternity before she turned the faucet on and cleaned up.

Mary heard the door creak. She staggered back to the table, and put the papers back in the file before hiding it in her underwear drawer with a speed that surprised her. 

“Mom, I got back from work early. Mom?”

Vaguely she wondered how badly she looked if she made Terry freak out this much. “I'm okay sweetie, just a bad day.”

“Sweetie? Mom, what happened?” Terry pulled up the chair Mr. Wayne had occupied not too long ago, and sat next to her.

She looked at her son, who had started raising hell when she and Warren's marriage had been disintegrating. The same son who had been so adorable as a child, who pulled his life together after juvie and was doing his best to be a good son now. 

An image of her baby boy being taken by shadowy people to be raised into a tool popped into her mind, and she slumped towards the version of Terry that was real and here in response. “You know I love you, right? No matter what?”

Terry pulled her into a hug. “Yeah? Yeah, of course. Mom, did something happen to Matt?”

She shook her head. “He's with his friend Carlos. Everything's fine. Sorry to worry you.” She pulled herself from her son's grasp and took a few deep breaths to steady herself. She shouldn't burden Terry like this.

“Mom…”

“I was going over some old papers, and it brought up some old pain. That's all. I didn't mean to worry you.”

“Are you sure?” He stared deeply at her. Again she could not help but compare the expression to Mr. Wayne's.

“Well, you could pick up Matt and clean the living room for me…” she teased.

He smiled and the tension left him. “Sure mom. Anything you say.” Terry hugged her, then ran out the door.

Mary found a glass of water, and chugged it down. She was glad Mr. Wayne had abstained from telling her kids. She wouldn't let Cadmus’ deeds taint her children's memories of Warren.

 

* * *

Later...

Matt knew that his gameboy was taken for a reason, but that did not matter. He was bored, and home alone, and wanted to play the Space Quest game Terry got him for his birthday. Quietly, he snuck into his mom's room and looked through the drawers and closets to find it. He got to the bottom of the latest drawer only to find a boring old paper file.

Glancing at it, he noticed the middle work was blacked out, and that it had big old lettering saying 'Project:' on it. Curiosity made him abandon the search for his gameboy and instead caused him to flip through the file.

"Huh," he said, having gotten through to the conclusion. He shrugged, not really letting the information about his father get to him.


End file.
